Our alliance
Learn more about U!REKA European University.
Mission
At U!REKA, we empower future generations through cross-border collaboration in higher education. By uniting diverse expertise across Europe, we educate inclusive, forward-thinking professionals equipped to lead the transition to climate-neutral, smart, and sustainable cities.
Vision and strategy
U!REKA envisions a connected, inclusive, and forward-thinking European University that empowers students, staff, researchers, and partners to co-create solutions to the pressing urban challenges of our time. We strive to build an enduring academic community that drives meaningful societal impact, locally and across Europe.
Our strategy, U!REKA SHIFT (Sustainable, Human, Inclusive, Future-proof Transition), turns this vision into action. Through long-term structural cooperation, we integrate education, research, and innovation across our alliance of over 30 higher education institutions and partners.
Together, we focus on three strategic goals:
- Establishing a shared inter-university campus that promotes inclusive, accessible learning environments and ensures seamless student and staff mobility across institutions.
- Becoming a lighthouse for challenge-based and collaborative learning, connecting education with applied research and innovation to shape future professionals and active change-makers.
- Accelerating the green and digital transitions, contributing to the goals of the European Green Deal and the EU mission for 100 climate-neutral and smart cities through interdisciplinary, practice-based education and research.
By aligning our efforts with European values, good governance principles, and regional priorities, we aim to educate resilient, socially engaged professionals equipped to lead Europe’s sustainable future.
Values
Our values were shaped through a collaborative process involving students, staff, and partners across Europe. They guide how we work, learn, and innovate together. They form the mindset behind our mission and are embedded across our education, research, and partnerships.
1. Inclusion
We build a welcoming and equitable environment where everyone can thrive. We value diverse perspectives and work to remove barriers so that all voices are heard and respected. Inclusion is a continuous journey of listening, learning, and growing together.
2. Co-Creation
We believe the best outcomes come from collaboration. Co-creation means building trust, sharing ownership, and designing solutions together with students, staff, researchers, and external partners. It’s how we innovate, connect disciplines, and turn ambition into action.
3. Boldness
We encourage courageous thinking and action. Boldness is about stepping beyond what’s familiar, taking smart risks, and embracing uncertainty as a space for growth. We create room for experimentation, challenge conventions, and inspire others to do the same.
Learn more about the process of defining our values in the full co-created vision and values document (pdf) and in following podcast with U!REKA members Minna Kaihovirta (Metropolia) and Koen Van Damme (HOGENT).
Partners
U!REKA is a vibrant alliance, bringing together 30 partners from across Europe.
Our European University includes higher education institutions, cities and municipalities, regional councils, prominent European networks and non-profit organizations.
Universities
Cities and municipalities
Regional or district councils
- Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council
- District of Offenbach
- Moravian Silesian Innovation Center
- Province of East Flanders
European Networks
Other partners
Logo
Partners can download the logo by clicking on the buttons below.
History
In November 2016, the strategic European consortium U!REKA was established in Amsterdam by six partners: Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands), HOGENT University of Applied Sciences (Belgium), Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (Germany), Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (Finland) Edinburgh Napier University (Scotland), and Oslo and Akershus University of Applied Sciences (Norway – now known as OsloMet). U!REKA stands for Urban Research and Education Knowledge Alliance.
Politécnico de Lisboa (Portugal) and VSB Technical University of Ostrava (Czech Republic) joined the consortium in 2020, but the Oslo and Akershus University of Applied Sciences withdrew a year later. The Achilles heel of the U!REKA partnership was its voluntary nature: the participating institutions made a joint commitment without a clear framework for staff involvement or an operational budget.
Nevertheless, the initiative proved to be a highly strategic move. When in 2019 the European Commission launched its first call for proposals for recognition as a European University Alliance, the partners already knew each other and were to some extent aligned in terms of content.
Recognition as European University Alliance
In creating and supporting European University Alliances, it was the European Commission’s aim to enhance the international competitiveness of European higher education institutions, embed European values and identity, and above all enable long-term structural, strategic and sustainable cooperation between institutions of higher education. It should provide interesting (international) perspectives for students, teachers and researchers.
In 2023, by the third call, the European Commission recognised the U!REKA proposal. The U!REKA European University was born!
Already the years before the recognition, U!REKA focused on establishing collaborative projects in the areas of teaching, research, mobility initiatives and more. It created many successful initiatives in that time, such as the Urban Commons Lab, Research Support Group and the U!REKA Change Agents programme for students, among others. The annual networking event, U!REKA Connects, is the highlight of the year for the network.
As a European University Alliance, U!REKA aims to integrate the partners’ teaching and research with a clear focus: contribute to a sustainable, humane, inclusive and future-proof transition to climate-neutral and smart cities. In doing so, the alliance responds to the European Union’s goal of creating 100 climate-neutral and innovative cities by 2030.
In January 2024, U!REKA European University welcomed four new universities as associate partners: UAS BFI Vienna (Austria), University of Bari (Italy), Odessa National Economic University (Ukraine) and New Bulgarian University (Bulgaria).
In total, the European Commission recognised 65 alliances, which involve 570 institutions of higher education. That seems a very large number, but it concerns only 10 per cent European higher education institutions.
Public documents
If you are looking for detailed information, public deliverable or in-depth reading about U!REKA, you have come to the right place.